Comment by troupo

Comment by troupo 3 days ago

That's what Apple already doing: applying arbitrary categories and charging arbitrary amounts of money because "transaction costs and platform or something".

1. Where the hell is the notion of "using the platform for free" even coming from (it's coming from Apple of course). I didn't know that iPhones are free, or that dev fees are waived for everyone.

2. Why the hell can't I use a different payment processor tham Apple and tell people about it? Then I'm neither using Apple's platform "for free" nor paying Apple's transaction fees.

simondotau 3 days ago

For interactive entertainment, I see no moral obligation for Apple to adopt any particular policy unless all major digital game store operators (Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, Valve etc) are subject to the same requirements.

For all other apps, I agree that alternative payment processing should be permitted for one-off transactions. And I can agree for subscriptions as well, provided the developer can meet a high standard for simple, frictionless cancellations.

Reply View 4 replies

troupo 3 days ago

> no moral obligation for Apple to adopt any particular policy unless all major digital game store operators (Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, Valve etc) are subject to the same requirements.
Why? iPhones are not gaming consoles.

Reply View | 3 replies
- musicale 2 days ago
  
  By game count and revenue, the App Store is very much a game store.
  You may not think of the iPhone as a walled-garden gaming handheld with smartphone features, but that's basically what it is from a business perspective, and games are in fact the majority of apps on the system.
  Epic (a game company) sued Apple to get it to charge lower platform fees than other game stores.
  
  Reply View | 0 replies
- simondotau 3 days ago
  
  Liquor stores are not candy stores, yet they are allowed to sell candy to minors while being prohibited from selling liquor. The principle is straightforward: regulation should follow the product, not the venue.
  
  Reply View | 1 reply
  
  troupo 3 days ago
  
  All pained analogies are both pained and invalid.
  iOS is not a liquor store, and allowing people to use other payment processors or even other stores on the platform is not selling liquor to minors.
  Note how your analogies immediately fall apart for other platforms like, for example, Apple's own MacOS.
  
  Reply View | 0 replies